Nigerian sex traffickers jailed in France

A French court sentenced 24 members of a Lyon-based sex trafficking ring to prison terms of up to seven years for forcing Nigerian women into prostitution. Ironically, most of the defendants were also Nigerian and the trial has highlighted the growing use of African migrants in the European sex trade. A report on the News24 site notes that they include one of Europe's most wanted women, Jessica Edosomwan, accused of acting as a France-based ‘madam’ to women recruited mainly in Nigeria's southern Edo State. Seventeen women filed complaints against the defendants but none of the victims attended the trial, with the exception of one former sex worker who found herself in the dock for luring another woman into the trade. Prosecutors said the victims earned up to $166 000 a month for the syndicate by selling themselves in parked vehicles for as little as 10 euros.